In the coastal area of Southeast China, owing to the uneven distribution
of rainfall and the high population density as well as the pollution of
surface and groundwater, the exploitable water resources per capita is
low and the seasonal water shortage occurred frequently. Effective rainwater
utilization has been taken seriously. The paper gives an introduction
to the rainwater utilization in the rural area of Yuyao municipality.

1. Effective use of rainwater in the paddy area: The irrigation technique
for paddy land with shallow submersion and without submersion. Because
the surface runoff, under ground seepage loss and evapo-transpiration
were reduced, the rainwater utilization efficiency was raised. The irrigation
water amount and the consumed energy were reduced by 2000~5000 m3 and
90~220 kWh per hectare, respectively while the yield of paddy was increased
by 350~750 kg per hectare.

2. Rainwater utilization in the dry farming land

In the Xiaolu village, the rainwater harvesting and irrigation project
has been built from 1999 to 2000. In the 100 ha cultivated land, 100 km
long ditch for storing rainwater was excavated with storage capacity of
27000~40000 m3. The water source is reliable and the quality is very good.
The sprinkler and drip system was built to irrigate the vegetables and
fruit trees, of which the products are with no pollution and well known
as "green food".